Portland officially, and permanently, renamed a street in the Rose Quarter to honor Jack Ramsay, the legendary NBA coach who led the Trail Blazers to the World Championship in 1977.

The City Council approved the name change Wednesday, expediting the vote and the typically clunky name-changing process to ensure the 'North Ramsay Way' signs are in place when the NBA seasons begins next month.

"Jack Ramsay was a hero," Commissioner Steve Novick said, "Not just because he was a great basketball coach, but because he was a great man."

A Trail Blazers official testified before City Council and read a statement on behalf of the organization and Ramsay's family, saying the name change is "a prestigious and lasting place of honor in a city he loved very much."

Shortly after his death, the Blazers approached Novick, who oversees the transportation bureau, and suggested the city rename North Winning Way to honor Ramsay. The street runs through the Rose Quarter, north of Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Moda Center.

Novick loved the idea. The City Council approved installation of temporary sign caps in May.

In the months since, the formal name change went through the bureaucratic machinations of city government in remarkably quick order.

It's also the first street name change since the city renamed 39th Avenue after Cesar Chavez four years ago.

City code stipulates streets can't be renamed to honor a deceased person until they've been dead for five years, but the city waived that requirement in this case.

The city formed a Historian Panel to review the proposal and its merit. The group unanimously approved the name change, but added, "it was important to acknowledge and recognize the historical context of the Rose Quarter." Construction of Interstate 5 and the Coliseum displaced a "vibrant part of Portland's African American community," the panel wrote.

The Planning and Sustainability Commission also reviewed and approved the proposal.

Ramsay was also a Navy veteran, and his 1976-77 championship team played at the Coliseum, adding significance to the name change.

The team is footing the $2,640 bill for renaming the street, which pays for manufacturing and installing 11 signs, traffic control and eventually removing the Winning Way signs in five years.

The Blazers open the 2014-15 season on Oct. 29 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.